She watched them walking down the beach, talking together. Something Sharon said made Andy laugh, and he put his arm around her, pulling her closer. They both laughed harder, then pulled away. Sharon looked up at Andy in a way Ann had never seen Sharon look at anyone. Just watching how relaxed they were warmed her heart. It could have been a lot worse for all of them, she knew.

Sighing heavily, Ann moved from the handrail of the veranda where she had been standing, back to her seat at by the rail. Drink in hand, lost in thought, she didn't see the two approach her.

"Ann?" Sharon looked at her.

Looking up, Ann saw that Sharon and Andy were standing further away from each other. She wondered if they separated upon seeing her, or if that was their natural way of interacting. She noticed it when the two were in the offices earlier that day. They stood close to each other, but not too close.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" Ann asked, looking from Sharon to Andy.

Andy shrugged, "Just out for a stroll."

"Might we join you?"

Gesturing her welcome, Ann moved the napkins closer to the center of the table.

"Tough day?" Sharon looked at her, waiting patiently for the response.

"You still do that, I see. Checking in to see how people are doing, long after the work day is over"

Sharon smiled while Andy chuckled. "She perfected that one years ago. Don't fix what ain't broken."

"Don't I know it," Ann laughed.

Andy waved the bartender over and ordered drinks for himself and Sharon.

Nodding her head in his direction, Ann looked at Sharon, "Anything I should know?"

Humming, Sharon smiled, "No..."

"Right..." Ann nodded, then turned to Andy. "So, Lieutenant.."

"Andy, please, we're off duty."

"Right, Andy... you ready to leave Major Crimes and join my team? I saw you wanting to be in the thick of the action this afternoon. I can always use someone new."

Andy chuckled, as he leaned back and crossed his leg over his knee. "Nah... nah, I got it good right where I am. You needing people, McGinnis?"

"Thought we were on first names."

"She's quick," Andy hooked his thumb at Ann, and looked at Sharon.

"Yes, she is. She has always been one of my favourites." Sharon smiled at Andy, then turned the smile to Ann, softening it slightly. "How are you doing? Some hard memories today, I imagine."

"Oh..." Ann took a deep breath. "You could say that."

"What I miss?" Andy looked from one to the other.

"A lawyer from the City Attorney's office barged in on us today, and said some hurtful things to Ann," Sharon explained gently, her eyes never leaving Ann's face.

"Hurtful? The woman was a bitch!" Ann spat.

"Ain't too many legal people I actually like," Andy said, as he uncrossed his leg and leaned fully on the table. "Hobbs... Baker... that's about it. What the idiot want?"

Ann bit her bottom lip and sighed heavily, then she looked Andy in the eye, "She said, and I quote 'If I had children myself', I'd understand how import it was to contact the victim's daughter-in-law and tell her, her children were missing."

"Wha?" Andy sat up and looked from Ann to a teary-eyed Sharon.

"Yup," Ann continued. "She decided I was so heartless because I was childless."

"Dammit," Andy swore, shaking his head.

They all took a moment as the waitress placed the new drinks on the table, Sharon reaching out her hand to squeeze Ann's arm, while Andy's expression darkened.

"I hope someone put that bitch in her place."

"I did... we did," Sharon said softly, still holding Ann's arm.

Ann took another deep breath, this time a little more ragged then the one before. "She apologized," she said, licking her lips and blinking furiously, "and... and she said she'd been told differently. She felt bad..."

"I don't care how bad she felt, once something like that is out there, it never goes away," Andy shook his head again. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah..." Ann lowered her eyes from the evening sky, and looked at Sharon, smiling at her kindness. "But my hero here..." Ann pat Sharon's hand, "she came to my rescue, just like she always does."

Sharon squeezed Ann's arm again, as her smile changed, from one of comfort to one of gratitude.

"Well... I see the gang's all here," a voice said, coming towards the table.

"Hey, Fritz," Andy got up and shook his hand, then offered the empty seat.

Fritz looked from one to the other, "Not interrupting, am I?"

"Nope," Ann said, pulling her hand away from Sharon's and wiping the tears under her eyes.

Looking from one to the other, Fritz waited for someone to explain.

"Ann was just telling Andy, what the lawyer from the City Attorney's office had to say earlier."

"About notifications?" Fritz asked the open question, and when Sharon nodded he continued. "You handled that well... both of you. And Commander, I'm sorry."

"Thank you. You moved things along. It helped."

"It can't be easy."

Ann snorted, "Nope. Some days are better than others. Today was a bit challenging."

"Because of that legal idiot?" Andy asked.

"She just poured salt in the would. The little girl today... Mandy... Sammy would be her age. Same hair. When I saw you hugging her tonight..." Ann licked her lips again, turning to speak to Fritz. "You were really good with that little girl, Agent Howard."

It was Fritz's turn to smile wryly. Andy had waved the waitress over, requesting another soda water for Fritz, so it was there for him to take a drink.

"You don't have children either?" Ann asked, watching him.

"Not yet," he answered quickly, then sighed. "No... not... Huh... my wife doesn't want any children."

Ann nodded but remained silent. Sharon and Andy exchanged looks. That was the most they had ever heard on the subject.

"How is..." Sharon started asking Fritz gently.

"On the phone when I left, making plans to move back to DC."

Sitting up straighter, Ann looked from Fritz to Sharon and back, "Oh... I thought... when I offered you the job, you didn't say anything about that."

"Job?" Andy asked.

"Yes, Commander McGinnis and Chief Taylor have offered me the job of Deputy Chief for Special Operations Bureau."

"Really?" Sharon smiled, then looked at Ann. "That was what those questions were about?"

Ann nodded while Fritz looked confused. "Questions?" he asked.

"Mmm... she wanted to know if you would be a team player or just a paper pusher."

Chuckling, Fritz shook his head. "Definitely not a paper pusher."

"That's what we told her. You've gotten in our way from time to time," Sharon smiled at him, her eyes dancing, "but in the end we've always managed to get you on our side."

Fritz pointed at her, "You..." he started laughing himself, "you could convince the devil to sell ice cream. You are the most dangerous person I've ever met."

Ann lifted her glass, "I'll drink to that."

"Here, here," Andy leaned over and clinked his glass against Ann's.

Sharon just smiled and shook her head. "I'm really not that bad," she said finally.

"Yeah, not much," Andy started. "My desk is just outside your office, don't forget. I've seen you make grown men cry."

"I've never made you cry," Sharon shot back, one eyebrow arched, daring him to reply.

On the other side of the table Fritz looked at Ann, and tipped his head towards the pair. Ann smirked and shrugged, then her smile deepened as her own eyebrows raised. They were enjoying the scene in front of them.

"Lady, you scare me every day."

Ann snorted, and came to Sharon's rescue. "Funny, she's never scared me a day in my life."

"Yeah... well that's because you're cut from the same cloth," Andy shot back.

"Okay," Fritz put his hand up, "I've got to ask. How come you are a Commander and Sharon is a Captain? Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

Ann's glass came down quickly to the table, as Andy sucked back and Sharon's jaw got tight.

"Oh... wrong question," Fritz said, looking from one to the other.

"No..." Sharon began first, "it's a fair question. Many have asked. I should be Commander, Fritz, and we all know it. I was promised that title more than four years ago, and Major Crimes is supposed to be run by a Commander. I have all the responsibilities of that rank, I just don't have the pay or benefits."

"What happened?" he asked more gently.

"Budget freeze," she answered in a matter-of-fact manner.

"But... if they can bring me in..." Fritz began.

"Taylor," Andy sneered. "Asshole choked Sharon's promotion with two hands. Told her she was too old to get one and be grateful she had a job."

Everyone looked at Andy, Sharon paling. "Who told you that?" Sharon gasped.

"Provenza. You told him. He told me. Asshole!"

Ann touched Sharon's hand, "I didn't know..." she said. "Why didn't you tell me? You should..."

"No!" Sharon cut Ann off quickly, eyes snapping for the first time.

"It's not fair."

"It's done. It's over."

"No, it's not..."

"Ann, I said enough."

"What?" Fritz looked from one woman to another.

"No!" Sharon looked at Ann again, eyebrows now raised in fierce determination.

The two women looked at each other for a few moments, Sharon shaking her head ever so slightly to keep Ann quiet.

"She gave it to me," Ann said firmly.

"What?"

"Ann!"

"Huh?"

"Sorry, Sharon. It's not fair. I would never have said yes if I'd known."

"Ann... you deserved that promotion. You needed that promotion. I don't regret it now, I didn't then. It was the right thing to do."

Andy looked at the two women, "Would someone explain what happened?"

"After Sammy and Glen died..."

"Ann... don't..."

"Sharon, he cares about you. He deserves to know the truth," Ann said gently to Sharon. When Sharon closed her eyes and lowered her head into her hand, Ann continued. "After Sammy and Glen died, I wanted to die too. I had nothing. I spent my whole career saving other families, and I lost mine. I was a mess. Sharon found me pouring myself into a bottle, or at least trying to. I didn't know the first thing about drowning my sorrows, but I figured I could try. Then Madam FID comes along, takes my glass away, drives me home, and stayed with me all night while I cried my heart out. In my department, you get promoted because you live that long, and I was still alive. So I got up the next day, and the day after that, and I kept going because she wouldn't let me stop. Then one day, I was offered command of S.O.B. Sharon was in the office with Chief Pope. She told me they were freeing up money for promotions and my name was on the top of the list. She was happy for me.

"I gotta tell you, it was a lifeline, being responsible for my team. I did it all. They offered me Deputy Chief twice, but that was too far up. It would take me away from the action. The second time I turned them down, I said they should spread that money around for other promotions. That was when Chief Pope told me the money for Administrative jobs, and Operations, were two different pots. Operations was too tight. So I challenged him," she shrugged. "I said it wasn't so tight when they came to me to take over the Operations of S.O.B. Well... Chief Pope looked me in the eye, and he said the reason I had my command was because Sharon told him I needed it more than she did. She told him she'd wait to be Commander."

Sharon kept her head down in her hand, as the two men looked from her to Ann.

"So that's..." Fritz started, not sure how to say what was on his mind. "Today... the whole operation. I saw you tell the Captain, that whatever she wanted, you would do. I thought all day I'd never seen a Commander taking orders from a Captain before in all my years working with you guys."

"This woman gave me back my life," Ann looked at him, a tear running down her cheek. "She couldn't give me back my little girl, but she gave me everything else. Unless it's crunch time, I will never give her an order. I will always do it her way."

Sharon sobbed, moving her hand to her mouth, as she looked up at Ann. "I didn't want you to know..." she said, waving her hand slightly then returning it to cover her mouth.

Andy leaned over and squeezed Sharon's knee under the table. The rest sat, watching her compose herself. Finally she took a deep breath, and smiled at Ann. "I don't regret it."

"Why doesn't that surprise us?" Andy smiled at her.

"Okay," Sharon sat up straighter and wiped a tear from her face, "okay, enough of that. I think I'm going to get us something to eat." She rose, and walked away. Ann got up behind her and followed.

"Wow..."

"Ah huh... you said it," Andy agreed.

"I never imagined THAT Woman, would be that woman."

"Took us all by surprise. It's a hell of a thing... a hell of a thing."

"I've got to do something about that," Fritz said finally.

Andy looked at him questioningly, "Do what?"

"Well..." Fritz sighed, and leaned back in his chair, putting his arm over the back and balancing his leg on his knee. "They seem to really want me as Deputy Chief. Seems to me I might have some room to negotiate."

"What you thinking?"

"I'm thinking the argument can be made that the money saved by the new way things are happening at Major Crimes, should be used to pay their commander properly. And she should be the Commander."

"She won't want you manipulating things for her."

"You going to tell her?" Fritz looked at Andy, daring him to argue the matter.

Pouting his lips, Andy looked down to his glass, then up to Fritz's face again. Shaking his head he finally said, "Nope... not going to hear nuthin from me. You're gonna do it then? Take the job?"

"Maybe," Fritz nodded, looking from Andy to where the women were standing by the bar. "I have to weigh my options..."